


Our Song

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Cause this is a story about death, Christina is the Queen of the Underworld, F/F, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), TW a lot of talks about death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27346807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Ruby is not going to let Leti die so easily, so she does the one reasonable thing she can think of: travel to the land of the dead to get her sister back. She makes a deal with the Queen of the Underworld: her sister can go free, but she'll have to stay behind.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 71
Kudos: 168





	1. Silence Breaker

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm very anxious and excited to present this new story!  
> I was reading "Hell House" by godblessthefandom (Browncoat 101) - which by the way is a seriously good story that you should definitely check out if you haven't yet - and it gave me an idea. Basically, what if Christina was the Queen of the Underworld, and Ruby wanted her sister back.  
> So as you might have noticed from the very long tags this story is a mix of Hades/Persephone and Beauty and the Beast with a dash of Orpheus/Eurydice. It was a joy to write when it wasn't a mess to write, I had to change orders of events multiple times, but I think now it's ready to be posted! I'll be posting a new chapter every day, so don't forget to subscribe to the story to make sure you don't miss an update!  
> On that note, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter!

The Underworld was forever silent. You got used to it rather quickly, mostly because you only visited it once you were dead, and nothing bothered you anymore then. All the souls transiting through the Underworld made as much noise as an ant. They floated through, from one part of the realm to another. They had no thoughts, no mouths or vocal cords, and therefore didn't speak. Hundreds of thousands of souls came and went all of the time, never making so much as a sound.

  
Christina had grown to appreciate the silence beyond anything else. Ruling over the Underworld was quiet, like ruling over Hell was violent. It was as all things were. Who was she to go against the rules? She spent most of her days reading, surveying her kingdom, with little to no sense of time. Time didn't exist for the dead, after all, they were already dead. And when the pull of boredom became too strong, Christina shut her book and took a walk around her kingdom. It was small and gray, but it was home, and wasn't that enough? A worse fate could have awaited her, she was certain of it.

  
Peace and quiet. Very suddenly disturbed, in Christina's opinion. It began with familiar growls coming from inside the castle. Christina was seated on a bench in the large garden reading when the sound pulled her out of her thoughts. She knew the sound quite well. It was the Shoggoth keeping watch at the entrance of the Underworld. How had it arrived at the castle, she wondered as she snapped her book close. It wasn't supposed to leave its post.

  
She made her way through the castle in search of the creature. It was not supposed to leave the edge of her realm. She couldn't even imagine the kind of damage one inside of her castle would cause.

  
She rounded the corner and found with great surprise the multi-eyed creature standing in her throne room. She arrived from behind the throne, but as she began walking down the steps to the creature, she found it wasn't alone. A woman was standing beside it. A real, human woman. She was wearing a red dress, and her hair had somewhat fallen out of place, as a few curls stuck to her neck. Her skin was dark, and a few beads of sweat were running down her temple. Christina knew the path down into the Underworld was hot, but she couldn't feel that heat. There was a guitar slung on the woman's back. When her eyes fell on Christina, her brows furrowed.

  
"Are you in charge here?" she asked with extreme annoyance.

  
Christina hadn't had to slip into the position of Queen in a long, long time. But it came to her naturally. The coldness, the detachment of it all. She sat in her throne, crossing her legs, and looked down at the woman.

  
"I am in charge, as you put it, yes. Who are you? How did you get past my guard dog?"

  
"He likes music, did you know that?"

  
Christina looked at the Shoggoth still standing by the woman's side. Its many eyes were transfixed on the woman's instrument. Christina waved her hand, and a whistle could be heard in the distance. The guard dog bounded down the staircase leading back out hurriedly and disappeared. She assumed it could dig its way home on its own.

  
"I have to command you bravery and ingenuity. No one alive has ever made it this far into my kingdom."

  
"You call this a kingdom? It's a piece of rock with a castle in the middle."

  
Christina pursed her lips. She didn't take too kindly to insults.

  
"Why are you here?"

  
"I'm here for my sister. She died yesterday."

  
"Time doesn't mean anything to me. She could have died a hundred years ago that it wouldn't change a thing. People die every day, it is how it is. Nothing I can do about it."

  
The woman crossed her arms. She seemed furious at Christina's detachment.

  
"But what if she wasn't supposed to die?"

  
"How can you be so sure? Are you one of the Fates, do you decide who lives and who dies? Or are you a God, maybe? Even we are not so powerful as to play with such things."

  
Christina settled back in her throne.

  
"But please, I'm interested. How did you manage to get here?"

  
"I'll tell you if you give me my sister back."

  
Christina smirked.

  
"That's not how it works. And if you want to strike a fair deal with me, you'll have to think of better terms."

  
The woman huffed.

  
"What do you want?"

  
"Me? I want for nothing, there is your problem. There is nothing you could offer me that I would accept to exchange your sister with."

  
"And I'm not leaving without her."

  
Christina wasn't so sure. Life was a funny thing in the Underworld, as it wasn't supposed to be. The longer the human stayed, the more her soul yearned to rejoin the hundreds of thousands wandering by the castle daily. She thought she could stay here and wait forever, but eventually, the forces at work would catch up to her, and she couldn't outsmart them.

  
"I admit, I'm very curious. I've heard tales of people traveling to the land of the dead to get their lovers back. Never their siblings. Why is she special? Why does she deserve to live again, when so many die every day, leaving behind grieving loved ones."

  
"You want me to convince you?"

  
"I want to understand," Christina replied simply.

  
"My sister, Leti... She just got a kid, okay? And those sick bastards who call themselves doctors let her bleed out in her hospital bed instead of helping her. They said it was too late, but I know they were lying. She asked me to take care of her kid, but I just... I can't."

  
"So you think it wasn't her time. That she wasn't meant to die on that hospital bed."

  
"She was meant to have a kid and raise him! She was meant to have a happy life, alright, not this!"

  
Christina pursed her lips thoughtfully. She understood the predicament. Yet there was still nothing she could do about it.

  
"Because you braved the path no other humans had braved before, I can give you something. A chance to say goodbye."

  
This angered the woman even more.

  
"I don't need to say goodbye! I need my sister back!"

  
"I cannot give you that."

  
"Then you're one weak God. I don't care. I'll go talk to see the real God if I have to, but I'm not leaving without her."

  
"I'd advise you don't. If you can survive here well enough, Heaven is a whole other realm. You will not survive long enough to go there."

  
"So you're the only one I can ask for help is what you're telling me?"

  
The woman sighed through her nose, visibly trying to keep her calm as much as possible.

  
"There has to be a way for me to get her out of here."

  
Christina could not see any. A soul was priceless, only equaled to another soul. The spark of an idea appeared in her mind.

  
"What you need is your sister's soul. There's only one way to get a soul. Another soul."

  
"What are you suggesting?"

  
"Send me a soul, and I will return your sister's soul to you. If you think she shouldn't have died then, end someone else's life ahead of time. Then I will know the debt is paid, and I will return your sister to you."

  
To Christina's surprise, the woman seemed to consider it. She bit her lower lip and thought about the deal. Christina waited, watching the woman attentively. Finally, the woman asked:

  
"How do I know you actually have her? From what I saw outside, souls are always moving around here, they don't stay."

  
Christina smirked. It was easy enough. She could almost see the string tying the two sisters together. All she had to do was pull on it. A gray flame appeared in her hand, so small and fragile. She let it float out of her hand, and onto the ground in front of the woman. It took shape quickly, and a woman emerged out of it, colorless, dressed in the last thing she'd worn, the outfit they were going to bury her into. When she first took a breath – but not really, she was dead, she simply had this old reflex of being alive – she looked around until her eyes settled on her sister.

  
"Ruby, where are we?"

  
Ruby rushed forward to hug her sister, but her arms passed through her shape. She took a step back. Leti was disoriented, to say the least.

  
"Does she remember?" Ruby asked over Leti's shoulder, prompting her sister to turn around.

  
"She does," Christina confirmed. "It's rather difficult to forget one's death."

  
"I... I died, I'm dead," Leti said, finally.

  
She reached for Ruby's hand but her hand passed through.

  
"Do we have a deal?" Christina asked.

  
Leti looked at Ruby with confusion.

  
"A soul for a soul, right?" Ruby replied.

  
"No more, no less."

  
"Then we have a deal. Take me."

  
Christina was highly surprised by this turn of events. Leti wasn't certain what was going on.

  
"You ask for a soul and I give you mine. Do we have a deal?"

  
After a moment of reflection, Christina smiled.

  
"Deal."

  
Ruby turned to Leti.

  
"Why would you..." Leti tried to ask, baffled.

  
"Little George needs you," Ruby said. "Just don't say I never did anything for you. Now go."

  
Ruby looked back to Christina.

  
"Set her free."

  
Leti tried to protest, but with a motion of the hand, she was turned back into a soul, which disappeared into a rain of gold sparks. Christina had to admit that she'd never seen it before, but it was rather impressive. She looked back at Ruby. There was determination set in the woman's dark eyes.

  
"Just be done with it."

  
"I don't kill," Christina said as she stood up from her throne. "Though it's not from a lack of trying. But don't worry, you won't stay alive long here. It's just a matter of a few days before your soul will let itself be collected. In the meantime, I suppose you can stay here."


	2. Accommodations and Apple Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christina shows Ruby her room, and Ruby discovers the gardens.

Ruby followed the Queen of the Underworld through ashy marbled corridors. Everything in this kingdom seemed graying and dead, from the earth to the castle itself. The most colorful thing she'd seen so far was the blonde's sky blue eyes. Her dress was black, a long flowing, toga-like dress made of some sort of light material, with a gold brooch over her clavicle. She wore no crown, but more gold jewels wrapped around her arm and neck. She was gorgeous, like a marble statue exposed in a museum would be, to be looked out with care, and never touched.

  
As they walked, Ruby had been thinking deeply about what the blonde had said.

  
"Wouldn't it be easier to just let me wander about the place until I die or something?" she asked.

  
"Maybe," the blonde replied, her voice echoing around the cathedral-like structure. "But if the results are the same then the least I can give you is a life of godly luxury for your last few days."

  
There was no kindness in that voice, just cold neutrality. Ruby didn't know what to expect when she went after Leti's soul, but somehow, she knew she should have expected something like this. A neutral, careless goddess who looked upon all mortals with no judgment, giving them no value. She didn't judge, she merely watched on as the world continued to turn and burn, and all living things passed through her domain like it was a highway.

  
"Where are you taking me?" Ruby asked after what felt like the twelfth turn in their path. "Some sort of dungeon?"

  
"To my bedroom," the Queen explained. "Believe it or not this enormous castle only has one chamber. I don't use it. Time has no relevance to me and sleep doesn't trouble me. You can stay there and use it as you'd like."

  
Ruby wondered what to expect, though she had to admit that she liked the idea of being given a Queen's bedroom, at least for her last few days of life.

  
"Are you going to lock me there?" she asked.

  
The blonde seemed amused by the idea.

  
"No, Ruby," she said. "You're free to go wherever you want here."

  
Ruby frowned, about to ask the blonde how she knew her name, but then again, this was a goddess.

  
"And what should I call you?" she asked. "What are you, the goddess of the Underworld?"

  
"Christina is fine," the blonde replied.

  
Ruby nodded. They arrived in front of a massive set of white double doors, decorated with gold leaves climbing up like vines on the wood. Christina opened the door in front of her. It was a large marble room, with a big circular bed in the middle, all the furniture necessary in a bedroom, and a window at the back of the room. There was another door in a corner leading to a bathroom, with a giant claw-footed bathtub in the middle of the smaller room. Ruby couldn't quite believe it. Her entire apartment could fit in this room alone.

  
"Do you have servants around here too?" she asked ironically, feeling she already knew the answer.

  
"No," Christina replied, to Ruby's great surprise. "There's only me here."

  
Christina returned by the door and said:

  
"I understand your stay here will lead to your death, but for what's it's worth, I hope you'll enjoy your stay."

  
She closed the door, leaving Ruby alone in the grand bedroom. Ruby took her guitar off her shoulder and placed it carefully in a corner, against a vanity, on which all sorts of beauty products were lying. Ruby recognized most if not all of the products as the one she used daily. She doubted Christina was the one using them. When she opened the wardrobe, Ruby found rows of dresses of a similar style to Christina's, but in her size. Something magical was going on, and Ruby wasn't sure how to feel about it. She went to look out of the window. Outside was more of the same she'd seen on her way to the castle. An eternal night sky with no stars or moon, yet she could see as if it were the middle of the day. Gray stone made up most of the kingdom, like blocks of ash stuck together. Hundreds of thousands of those small gray flames traversed the kingdom from one side to the other in an eternal path. Ruby shuttered at the thought that not too long ago, Leti was amongst those souls and she didn't even know it.

  
She went to the bathroom, determined not to look out of that window ever again. It served only to make her more anxious and uncertain about her fate. The bathroom was twice as small as the bedroom, yet it was still bigger than most of the rooms in Ruby's old apartment. The bathtub was decidedly big enough to be considered a small pool. Rows of plush and warm towels lined a rack on the wall. Ruby did not doubt that if she took a bath the water would be at the perfect temperature. She was tired and sticky anyway. Walking through the path leading to the Underworld had been like walking across Chicago on a summer day.

  
She still checked out of the bedroom door, just in case Christina was somehow standing there and waiting to pull the rug from under her and say it was just a prank, before leading her to the dungeons. No sign of the blonde anywhere. She closed the bedroom door, found there was a lock, and locked it. She also locked the bathroom door, just in case. She didn't know how strong locks were against gods, but she'd rather not think about it.

* * *

After escorting Ruby to her chambers, Christina had returned to the garden to continue her book. However, her thoughts prevented her from finishing so much as a sentence. She had to admit that she was intrigued by the dark-skinned woman. In what she imagined to be centuries of reign, no one had ever come to her asking for their loved ones' soul back. She hoped this wouldn't be the beginning of a trend.

  
Some time later – could have been an hour or the next morning – light footsteps echoed through the garden. Christina placed her book beside her on the bench and turned to see Ruby come closer. Her guest was no longer wearing the modern, sweaty clothes she'd come in, but a beautiful light gown, the sleeve straps resting on her arms, and exposing her shoulders. Christina took in the sight of Ruby and sparks of warmth ignited in her chest, something she hadn't felt in an eternity.

  
"What kind of magic trick are you playing at?" Ruby asked as she approached the blonde.

  
"What do you mean?" Christina said. The words sounded false on her tongue, and although she truly had no idea what Ruby was getting at, it sounded as though she was feigning innocent.

  
"The dresses in the wardrobe? They fit me perfectly."

  
"Who says I have anything to do with it."

  
Ruby came closer still. She stood by Christina's side, ignoring the silent invitation to sit down on the bench.

  
"What is this place anyway? Your dead garden?"

  
"It is my garden, yes."

  
"Where's the living one?" Ruby said rather mockingly.

  
It was true that the garden was rather dead. Nothing grew here, nothing was alive, and that included the vegetation. The trees were tall and thick, but their trunks were ash gray, like most of everything in the Underworld. No leaves or new branches grew on them. The ground was covered with stones, but no grass grew in between the slabs. Dark brown ivy had clawed its way up the walls of the castle, and probably only stuck to it by sheer force of will. There were no flowers to admire, no fruit to pick from the trees. Water trickled out of a stone fountain nearby, but no moss or water lilies had disfigured its centerpiece, a marble nymph holding a skull, and crying into the basin. The garden was a terrace on the side of the castle, opening up on a cliff that overlooked most of the kingdom. Underneath them, tiny souls, like so many ants, made their way across the dead earth.

  
Christina surveyed her garden with amusement.

  
"Didn't I warn you nothing lives here? The same goes for the trees, I'm afraid."

  
Christina crossed her arms and indicated with a look that Ruby could sit beside her if she wanted to.

  
"I find it peaceful all the same."

  
Ruby shook her head, and Christina realized she was purposefully keeping her back to the edge, looking at the blonde rather than at the scenery.

  
"So is that what you do all day? Sit on your bench and look at people walking by."

  
"What else did you expect me to do?" Christina replied with amusement, her eyes never leaving Ruby's face. "The dead rarely pause problems, unlike the living."

  
"It sounds really boring."

  
Christina shook her head.

  
"It's not, not really. How many days would you say has passed since you've arrived?"

  
Ruby answered quickly:

  
"It's barely been a few hours, at best."

  
"Are you sure? Could be. Or it could have been a week already. You lose your sense of time first. Then, everything else goes."

  
Ruby frowned. Christina looked back at the highway of souls in the distance.

  
"And before you know it, you'll be walking with them."

  
Ruby dared a look behind her before she focused on Christina again.

  
"I'd rather not think about it if you don't mind."

  
This made Christina laughed.

  
"Even on death's door, in the land of the dead, you'd rather not think about your impending demise. It's interesting, to say the least."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes. She certainly didn't share Christina's amusement.

  
"If you don't mind, I have my way of making time pass quicker."

  
"Sure, go ahead."

  
"I wasn't asking for permission."

  
Ruby walked away, leaving Christina alone on the bench. Christina watched her disappear back inside. She sighed and picked up her book again, hoping she could at least finish a paragraph this time before her thoughts began wandering again.

* * *

She finished a page before she was distracted by something else. Christina could swear she heard music. She closed off her book and stood up. She followed the sound of music. It came from a higher terrace in the garden. She climbed up the cracked marble steps until she reached the top. It was a perfect square of stone, with a bench in the center. A tree had once grown on the cliff above, and if it had been heavy with leaves, it could have been a nice, umbraged spot. Instead, it looked more like an impending sign of doom, ready to lose its grip on the rocky side at any moment and crash on the ground below.

  
Ruby was seating on the bench, her back to the edge, her guitar in hand. She was playing a song Christina had never heard before, but then again Christina suspected that she'd never heard any of the songs Ruby knew. Each note produced by the guitar lifted into the silent air, and seemingly vibrated through the entire realm, before finding a home in Christina's chest. The blonde could swear something was trembling behind her ribs.

  
Then, Ruby began singing. The sound made Christina stop dead in her tracks. Every nerve in her body was shivering with every syllable Ruby sang. It made her incredibly uncomfortable. It made her want to run back down the stairs and hide away from the tender and powerful song. Ruby had her eyes closed, and Christina wondered if she should make herself known. She felt she should, it felt wrong, secretly listening to Ruby sing.

  
She was still frozen in place, trying to calm the strange palpitations of her heart – her heart could still palpitate, she learned with shock – when Ruby said:

  
"I know you're listening."

  
She opened her eyes and looked at Christina. The blonde struggled to compose herself. She cleared her throat.

  
"I didn't mean to bother you."

  
"You're not bothering. Part of making music is for others to enjoy, not just me."

  
"I did enjoy it," Christina confirmed.

  
She stepped closer to Ruby but didn't sit on the bench. Instead, she leaned against the nearby wall.

  
"I have to admit I never expected anyone to make it to me by using music to trick my Shoggoth," Christina said as she crossed her arms.

  
"I got lucky, I suppose."

  
Christina shook her head.

  
"This has nothing to do with luck. Luck is getting exactly the right roll on your dice while playing Backgammon. This was... pure force of will. You knew exactly what you wanted, and you did absolutely everything you needed to do to get it."

  
Ruby smirked.

  
"Careful there, you almost sound like you're proud I tricked you."

  
"Shouldn't I be? Not many people have ever outsmarted me, in life or death. Especially in death."

  
Ruby frowned, as if something Christina had said bothered her, but eventually, she let it go. Instead, she asked:

  
"Are you going to stand here and listen to me play all day?"

  
"If you don't mind. As you so mockingly pointed out earlier, I am very bored."

  
This didn't seem to be a problem for Ruby, who got a firmer hold of her guitar and began playing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I have to admit that I'm shocked at all the love you've given to the first chapter! I didn't think so many people would be interested in this weird mixed AU of mine! So the pressure is on and I hope I won't disappoint!  
> Keep sending comments my way, please, it's an absolute pleasure to read all of your reactions, and I'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter!


	3. Dusty Meadows, Gray Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There really isn't much to do in Christina's castle, so she gives Ruby a tour of her kingdom.

Eventually Ruby grew tired of playing, though Christina hadn't grown bored of listening. Ruby set her guitar aside, against the bench, and asked:

  
"Is there really nothing else to do around here? Nothing to see?"

  
"Has even playing made you restless?" Christina asked.

  
"There's only so many songs you can play before you start to realize that it's no use," Ruby replied with a sigh. "My heart's just not in it."

  
Christina felt something painfully cold stir in the chest, like tiny ice spikes growing in her lungs. She tried to swallow the fake pain away and focused on Ruby instead.

  
"What would distract you?" Christina asked.

  
Ruby stood up.

  
"I don't know."

  
"Perhaps a tour of the castle?" Christina suggested.

  
"I already did that, there's nothing to see."

  
"Excuse me?" Christina replied as if offended by the idea that her castle was an empty husk.

  
Ruby chuckled.

  
"No, really, besides the library, your castle's pretty empty. And even the library wasn't that interesting."

  
Christina felt wounded but didn't show it.

  
"Fine. Would you like to see my kingdom?"

  
Ruby frowned.

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"I mean would you like me to show you around this desolate place I call my kingdom?"

  
Ruby didn't seem to know what to answer, so Christina continued:

  
"There are probably even fewer things to see than in the castle, and you'd be looking at dead souls from up close, but at least time would pass. Or as close to it as possible."

  
Ruby seemed to hesitate.

  
"I don't know. I feel like I've seen it all already."

  
Christina pushed herself away from the wall.

  
"Fine. I'll leave you alone then."

  
Christina began to make her way down the stairs when Ruby called her back.

  
"Christina?"

  
The blonde stopped and turn around. She'd already walked down a few steps, and when Ruby came closer to talk to her, she was looming over the blonde.

  
"You know what? Sure, why not."

  
Christina didn't show it, but she felt happy that Ruby had agreed.

  
"Follow me, please."

  
They made their way through the garden and back into the castle. Ruby followed closely by the blonde's side. They emerged out onto the throne room, then went down three flights of stairs to the castle entrance. It was a massive arch with half crumbled pillars on either side. when she'd first seen it, Ruby had assumed the castle was abandoned. Perhaps, she now thought, it was just a stylistic choice.

  
At the bottom of the stairs, they reached gray, ashy stone. There was a thin layer of dust on the ground, thinner than sand. Ruby was wearing sandals she'd found in the wardrobe, and she didn't feel like she was walking on the beach. Rather, she felt she was walking in the nuclear desert the news had been forewarning them about for years now. If only they knew it had been under their feet this entire time.

  
Christina walked with her same usual confidence. She always looked regal, even without a crown. Her kingdom was dust and death, and she took pride in it. The ground ahead of them led to multiple stairs-like chunks of smooth stone. At the bottom was a flat valley through which the souls navigated. The more Ruby looked at it the more it seemed like the bed of a river. The souls, like so many wisps of smoke, traversed the valley and passed at the foot of the cliff on which the castle rested. Despite the minuscule distance needed to climb in and out of the flatland, the souls, like sheep, never deviated from their path. At times it seemed as though they weren't moving at all, and there were so many of them Ruby couldn't distinguish them. But at others, it looked like a gentle wind was pushing them forward, toward their final resting place.

  
To Ruby's great surprise once they reached the bed of the river of souls, Christina stepped in. With incredible magnitude, the souls skirted around her, as if they were terrified to touch her. After a moment of hesitation, Ruby stepped in after her. They walked upstream, forcing so many souls to float out of their ways.

  
"Did you pass through here on your way to the castle?" Christina asked.

  
"I did," Ruby confirmed, keeping a worried eye on the souls around them. "Doesn't make it any less creepy."

  
"You have nothing to fear," Christina said. "Souls aren't looking for trouble."

  
"I can see that. They're terrified of you."

  
Christina smirked.

  
"You might as well be the only soul around here who's not terrified of me."

* * *

They continued their path to the entrance of the land of the dead. It was a stone arch leading deeper into a cave. The Shoggoth was sleeping at the edge of the cliff there, right by the place where the path shrunk. When they approached, its many eyes opened. It jumped down onto the path to come and greet its master. Christina didn't pet its rough-looking skin, but with a motion of the hand, send it back to its post.

  
The blonde stopped by the edge of the cave out of which the souls emerged. Ruby remembered making her way down the path all alone, only to find this river of souls at the end of the tunnel.

  
"Is it still as you remember it?" Christina asked.

  
"How much can this place change in a couple of hours?" Ruby replied.

  
Christina didn't answer. Instead, she said:

  
"You didn't tell me what gave you the idea to use music to pass through."

  
"It's an old story my mother used to tell me."

  
Christina crossed her arms and waited, prompting Ruby to elaborate:

  
"It's the story of a man who found a path to Hell. He went there because he wanted to be immortal, so he wanted to make a deal with the Devil to make sure he wouldn't die. He used music to get past the guards in the story."

  
"Aren't you glad things are exactly as they are in children's tale?" Christina asked with amusement.

  
"I don't know. Are you the Devil?" Ruby replied.

  
"What do you think?"

  
Ruby stared longly into Christina's aquamarine eyes.

  
"There's worse than you," Ruby decided. "There's better too, at least I hope there is, but you're not the Devil."

  
Christina smirked and Ruby almost changed her mind.

  
"What happened to the man, then? Did he become immortal?"

  
"He did, for a time. Then, he went back on his words. He tried to trick the Devil to get out of his part of the deal. When the Devil found out, because he always does, he broke off their deal. The man died. He couldn't go to Heaven, cause he'd made a deal with the Devil. But the Devil refused to let him enter Hell, cause he was still angry with him. So the man was condemned to walk the Earth for eternity."

  
"If that were true, don't you think he would have ended up stuck here?"

  
Ruby was thoughtful for a moment. Then, she asked:

  
"Is that how you ended up stuck here then? You tricked the Devil?"

  
Christina smirked.

  
"Where I that smart I would have traded my kingdom for his. It must be mighty interesting to rule over the sinners of the world. But no, that is not how I ended up stuck here, as you say."

  
Christina glanced down into the cave. Ruby followed her gaze. The souls kept on arriving, like a never-ending waterfall.

  
"Are you going to tempt me from breaking my promise?" Ruby asked. "Lead me as close to the land of living as you can?"

  
"This is the closest I can go," Christina said. "Trust me, I tried. If you want to leave, I won't stop you. I can't make the same promise for him, though."

  
Her blue eyes fell on the many-eyed guard dog watching carefully above them.

  
"You don't have to worry. So long as Leti is back where she belonged like you promised, you'll have my soul."

  
"I always keep my promises," Christina said with utmost seriousness.

  
When silence fell between them, it was so cold and terrifying that Ruby felt the need to fill it.

  
"Are we going to stand there all day? What about the exit?"

  
"You want to see it all, don't you? Fine, follow me."

* * *

They followed the flow of souls downstream until Christina stepped out of the bed, and climbed up the rocks. They were on the other side of the castle, the massive stone structure looming behind them. Once they'd walked up high enough, Christina approached the edge of a cliff. Ruby came closer as well, though she stayed a step behind Christina.

  
Down into the valley was the exit to Christina's kingdom. After snaking through the whole realm, the souls reached what seemed to be yet another cliff edge. However, instead of falling, like a waterfall, almost all souls floated up into a continuous flow, before disappearing into the dark aether. So few souls tumbled down that they seemed to be small water drops which had ricocheted off the main waterfall. They, too, disappeared into the darkness, but not without being consumed by flames first.

  
"There's only a small number of things He won't forgive," Christina said. "He's kinder than I ever will be."

  
"So you don't pass any judgment on their souls?" Ruby asked.

  
"Passing through here is the judgment. Not much I can decide, however. They're already dead, their fate is sealed."

  
"You're completely useless, then."

  
This made Christina bolt around, and she glared at Ruby. It was the first real rise she'd gotten out of the blonde, and it was in equal part terrifying and fascinating. Her blue eyes lit up with emotions suddenly but Ruby stood her ground.

  
"Are you sure calling the person who gave you your sister back useless is a good idea?"

  
"I sure would be eternally grateful, but I'll be dead in a few days. Doesn't matter what I think, right?"

  
"I am not useless," Christina repeated between clenched teeth, the word hissing past her lips. "I am a God."

  
"Of course you are. Well, if you'll excuse me, Your Holiness, I'm going back to your magnificent mansion to wait for my soul to detach from my body."

  
Ruby walked away, and for a second, Christina feared if she let her out of her sight, she would never see her again. But she stood by the edge and watched Ruby's form shrink away in the distance. Once the other woman had disappeared, Christina sat down, her legs hanging over the edge of the cliff. She looked at the flow of souls disappearing into the nothing.

  
A deep sorrow filled her once again. She'd gotten so used to watching them pass under her windows that she'd forgotten they left, where she stayed. And soon enough, so would Ruby. After all, a promise was a promise. She would get her soul. This seemed to comfort Christina's mind, at the very least. She would get the soul she was promised, and this whole mess would be sorted out. Her heart wasn't in it.

  
Music picked up from behind her. Distant notes echoing into the emptiness of the Underworld. Christina's ears picked them up with difficulty, as though she were underwater. Plucked strings carried with more ease into her chest. Where her brain sometimes had trouble making sense of the sounds, her heart heard them loud and clear, and trapped them in, as keepsakes for later. After listening in for a while, Christina stood up and walked back to her castle.

  
She found Ruby back on the bench in the garden. This time, she was facing the valley rather than the castle wall.

  
"Are you done brooding?" Ruby asked her as she climbed up the last few steps, stopping to play her guitar.

  
"Strange, I could have sworn you were the one brooding," Christina replied.

  
"I'm dying, I have the right to brood."

  
"I'm dead. I have the right to brood too."

  
Not another word was exchanged. Christina sat at the edge of the terrace, her back to Ruby. Ruby started playing again. It wasn't any easier for Christina to make sense of it, but at least her heart was pleased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!  
> In case you were wondering about the story Ruby tells, it's partially based on the myth behind the Jack'O Lantern, a man who tricked the Devil so the Devil wouldn't let him in hell when he died, and so he wanders the Earth, lighting his path with a piece of coal in a turnip... So spooky...  
> I started working on a new one-shot this morning. I got the idea when I woke up. Basically, it's Christina's dad thinking that William is Chris' lover and ordering her to bring him to this fundraiser, so Ruby is the one who has to take the William potion this time to be Chris' date for the evening. If I can finish it today I'll post it tomorrow. Either way I'll keep you posted!  
> Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow for the next chapter!


	4. Years, Decades, Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christina watches as inexorably, Ruby's soul leaves her body.

Ruby had grown tired, so she'd taken her guitar and retired to the bedroom to sleep. If time passed, Christina wasn't aware. She grew bored with her book, went back to the library to put it back, and get another one. Humans could sleep for a long time – Ruby might even never wake up – so Christina pulled out a heavy volume from the shelves to kill the time, and left the room.

  
On her way out she stopped in front of a small wooden door, much less ornate than the other doors in the castle. She hadn't been into the basement in years – decades, centuries – and felt no inclination to. She'd wasted so much effort down there, she never wanted to set foot in it ever again. The door was locked at all times, and she'd thrown away the key purposefully. Just in case, she tried the handle. The door was locked. Satisfied, Christina walked back to the garden.

  
She was reading when Ruby found her. Christina felt a sense of déjà vu but didn't mention it. Instead, she smiled her cold, unconcerned smile and closed her book.

  
"Was the bed at your convenience?"

  
Ruby approached yawning. She sat down on the stone bench beside Christina tiredly.

  
"It feels like I haven't slept at all," she groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

  
Christina raised an eyebrow and Ruby clicked her tongue with annoyance.

  
"Right."

  
Beneath them, the river of souls was still passing, inexhaustible. Despite the lack of temperature, Ruby shivered.

  
"Why do I feel like I'm stuck here?"

  
"Because you are," Christina replied simply.

  
"It's not just the space it's... time. You say my soul is going to leave my body eventually, but how can you be sure? Maybe I'm just going to be stuck in this in-between, not dead but not alive, for eternity."

  
The haunting way Ruby expressed her concern made Christina shiver as well. Deep melancholia seized her chest, this cold, slimy ball that was slipping into her belly and made her want to run somewhere, anywhere but here. She thought she'd crushed the feeling years – decades, centuries – ago. It seemed Ruby had reawakened it.

  
"I can tell you're dying already. You just don't feel it yet."

  
"That's not exactly what I wanted to hear," Ruby pointed out as she crossed her arms.

  
It was true, however. Christina could already feel the first few strands keeping Ruby's soul into her body had been severed, like the strings of a puppet being cut off in the middle of a show. Eventually, all the strings would snap, and then, Christina could only imagine what would happen.

  
"Have you never... I don't know, tried to leave from here?" Ruby asked.

  
Christina was silent for so long, Ruby suddenly feared the blonde had disappeared, leaving her alone on the bench.

  
"I tried. A long time ago. Through the exit."

  
Years – decades, centuries – ago, when she wanted nothing else than run from the bleakness of the place. This in-between, as Ruby had called it. Dead in all things, alive in all things, stuck with nothing to do but watch the crawl of time, without ever feeling it herself.

  
"I must have walked for weeks," Christina added. "Eventually you get used to having nothing under your feet. You're not scared of taking a step and suddenly falling. So I walked and walked and walked. Until I saw land. I was right back here. Like this land has its own gravity, and all I did was walk around the entire planet."

  
Though Christina's voice had remained even and detached, she felt something lifting off of her shoulders as she spoke. She'd never told anyone about this – how could she, she was alone here.

  
"We're stuck here, then," Ruby said.

  
"You're not stuck here. As soon as I get your soul, I'll have to send you on your way. I'm sure you'll like Heaven. I don't know what it looks like up there, but it wouldn't be called Paradise if it wasn't."

  
Christina was hoping to make Ruby smile. Instead, she bit her lower lip nervously.

  
"You're thinking about the man who made a deal with the Devil," Christina said. "I thought we'd already established that I'm not the Devil."

  
"I know, just... Are you sure what you did was right? I mean, letting Leti go for me... Maybe He won't appreciate it."

  
"If God or whoever is ruling over all this didn't want it to happen, they shouldn't have let me in charge," Christina replied. "I'm the Queen here, remember, I can do whatever I want."

  
Ruby laughed.

  
"That's some serious white girl entitlement. Life is never that easy."

  
"Why can't it be?" Christina asked. "Why can't it simply be 'Here's what I want, and I know I deserve it, so I'll do whatever I can to get it'."

  
Still, Ruby continued to laugh.

  
"Oh yeah, I can't wait for God to come down here and put you back in your place. Then, I don't know, maybe He'll send us both to Hell or something."  
Ruby sighed.

  
"God's never graced me with His presence," Christina replied. Not in years – decades, centuries – of her reigning here. "I doubt He'll start now just because I exchanged one of his precious children for another, out of billions. Just face it, there's only us here."

* * *

Ruby had fallen asleep again. It hadn't been planned, but one second they were both carrying each other through their existential crises, and the next Ruby had placed her head on Christina's shoulder and fallen asleep again. Christina let her. She remained completely still, and let the other woman sleep. Christina imagined her bony shoulder wasn't such a comfortable pillow, but Ruby didn't seem to mind.

  
Though Christina wouldn't admit it, it felt good, to have someone to talk to. Someone to keep her company. She didn't even know she'd missed other people until someone came knocking at her door. Thoughts of a rotten and dusty skeleton on a throne came back to her mind, but she pushed them away. This wasn't her, it wouldn't be her. She refused it to be her.

  
Beside her, she could feel Ruby's soul, inexorably slipping away with every breath the dark-skinned woman drew. It was just a matter of hours – minutes, seconds – before Ruby would be no more. The thought made Christina's chest ache. She wished Ruby could stay with her a bit longer, just a bit. She would miss her, and their brief time together. She would even miss their explosive arguments, as much as the blonde hated how Ruby could so easily get a rise out of her.

  
Christina could almost reach to touch it now. Ruby's soul. It was a delicate little thing, which hadn't seen the light of day often. Some people wore their souls on their sleeves or didn't protect them well enough. She'd seen her fair share of torn, punctured souls in desperate need of mending. This was what this place was, too. A place to heal. But Ruby's soul had been so protected, hidden behind fortifications which would put Vauban to shame. It was tired, too, it wanted to rest. Christina imagined this was why Ruby had fallen asleep so suddenly.

  
Christina woke Ruby up. Ruby grunted, displeased. Christina watched as the tenuous hold Ruby's body had on her soul strengthened. Christina's theory proved right. It was harder for the soul to escape the body if Ruby was conscious.

  
"What?" Ruby mumbled, rubbing her eyes and moving away from the blonde.

  
"If you fall asleep, you'll die," Christina said, and the words provoked a terrible storm of panic in the blonde's heart.

  
At first, she wasn't sure Ruby had understood her what she was saying. But finally, Ruby answered:

  
"Isn't that what you want?"

  
She was only half-conscious, and soon enough, she began leaning on Christina again. Blood rushed to Christina's head if that was even possible. It certainly felt like it. It was dizzying and loud. It was what she wanted, right? Ruby's soul, a fair deal. She didn't want it anymore.

  
Christina had half a mind to throw Ruby back into the tunnel, and hope this would stop her soul from leaving her body. But if it didn't work, and Ruby fell back asleep, there would be nothing Christina could do except watch. There was only one thing to do, and she hated it, but it had to be done.

  
"Come on, I'm going to show you something."

  
Ruby protested some more, but eventually, Christina managed to get her back on her feet and lead the way back inside. Christina hurried her through the corridors with only one thought in mind. She only had hours – minutes, seconds – to save Ruby's life. They stopped in front of the locked door. The blonde didn't require a key to open it. With a motion of the hand, the door swung open, the heavy metal lock snapping a chunk of the wall in the process. Dark stairs led downward.

  
"What's down there?" Ruby asked with a yawn.

  
"My lab," Christina replied simply, before prompting Ruby to follow her down.

  
Christina had forgotten what was waiting for them downstairs. Piles of papers, of abandoned trains of thoughts, of aborted ideas. Potions which had remained untouched for so long, yet still glowed as if she'd made them the day before. The torches lit up on their own. The basement was an addition Christina had made to the castle. It was a stone box, with no windows, worthy of an evil witch.

  
Christina settled Ruby on a chair, and instantly the other woman struggled to remain conscious.

  
"What are we doing here?" Ruby asked.

  
"I'm trying to save your life," Christina replied as she went to work swiftly.

  
She brushed old crumbled pieces of paper aside, most of them tumbling on the ground, and found new, blank ones. She always found new ones. She didn't even bother to sit, instead, she hunched over the table and madly scribbled away.

  
"I thought you wanted me dead?" Ruby said.

  
"I don't want you dead," Christina replied as she worked. "I never wanted you dead."

  
Ruby was touch and go as Christina racked her brain. At first, Christina tried to keep her awake by making her talk, but even that wasn't enough anymore. It was during a moment of distraction, while Christina was looking through old pieces of papers to hopefully find an answer to her problem, that Ruby fell asleep again, leaned over the table.

  
"Ruby?"

  
She did not answer, making Christina swear. It was a matter of minutes – seconds – now. Christina wasted no time trying to shake the dying woman awake. Instead, she reached for one of the rings she wore, pulled it forcefully off her finger, and found a knife. She cleared a corner of a table, throwing even more papers on the ground. She placed the ring in the middle, and with the knife, she cut open her palm.

  
Gods weren't supposed to bleed. Even the Greek Gods didn't bleed red, but ethereal, impossibly colored blood. Christina's blood was red, well and true, as it had always been. And with that blood, she traced symbols on the table around the ring. She felt no sting from the cut. The only pain she was feeling right now was the sadness and anger in her throat. The glue holding Ruby's soul to her body was breaking up. There were only but a few strings left to cut, and fate's scissors were sharp and quick.

  
Once all the symbols had been drawn, Christina didn't even bother to bandage her wound. It would close on its own. She recited the incantation. The words, the language, returned to her with ease, although she hadn't spoken it in centuries. The ring was a simple band of gold with a small emerald in its center. As she recited the words, the emerald turned from leaf green to blood red. Small symbols began to glow on the metal band. Christina felt drained once the spell was cast, but she didn't give herself the time to breathe.

  
She rushed to Ruby's side and shook her awake. Ruby was barely responding. Her soul was exposed, hanging on by a thread. So Christina slipped the ring around Ruby's finger. Then, she took a step back. Slowly, the ring acted. The string holding Ruby's delicate soul healed and reformed. Like a silkworm making its cocoon, the soul was wrapped carefully back into place, back where it was supposed to be and should have never left in the first place.

  
Christina held her breath and waited anxiously. A spell like that was bound to have consequences, and she feared those consequences. She just didn't have the time to make her usual perfect, flawless work. She watched as Ruby's life stopped running away from her. She expected something to happen then, something horrible. But no. Eventually, she had stabilized, and deeper calmness set over her. Ruby was veritably asleep, no longer dying.

  
Christina collapsed against the nearest wall with a long sigh. A hundred thousand questions were rushing through her mind, too quickly for her to grasp or answer any. Finally, one crystallized long enough to give Christina pause. Why did you save her? All you had to do was wait and collect her soul. If this was God admonishing her, then God sounded exactly like her. Christina refused to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Buckle up because our train just reached the top of the lift hill and we are about to plummet down this great rollercoaster of a story!  
> In case you were wondering (you probably are): Vauban was a French military architect under Louis XIV, he built a whole lot of very sophisticated impregnable fortresses, most of which are still standing to this day, I think. I couldn't think of a better allegory at the moment, so I thought I'd just keep it and give me a chance to give you some useless facts for the day.  
> The one-shot I mentioned yesterday is done, I will be posting it right after this chapter. It's called "We're not Eloping (Until Your Dad is Dead)". It's a very long, pretty fun one-shot, so if you feel like it, check it out!  
> Anyway, I hope you're ready for the storm of emotions coming tomorrow, and I will see you then!


	5. God Questions and Christina Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby wakes up only to find out that she's not dead, and Christina saved her life.

Ruby was having the strangest dreams. Maybe they weren't dreams at all, maybe it was just her life flashing before her eyes. This would certainly explain why she saw her mother inviting her to come to the other side. At least Leti wasn't there too, which comforted Ruby that her little sister was fine and living her life, as she should be.

  
Ruby woke up in Christina's bed. The satin sheets had been thrown over her so she wouldn't get cold – even if it technically wasn't possible. She couldn't remember how she had gotten into bed, however. Maybe she'd dreamed this whole existential conversation she and Christina had had in the gardens. Ruby stretched and yawn as she sat up.

  
Christina was seated on a chair against the bedroom wall, staring at her with those god-forsaken icy eyes. Ruby was scared for a moment as to why the blonde was there, but when she saw Christina's stiff shoulder visibly sink in relief, she understood something was wrong.

  
"Don't take the ring off," Christina told her as she stood up, a statue gaining the ability to move again.

  
Ruby frowned when she finally felt the warm band around her finger. She looked at it. It was a golden band with red glowing symbols engraved on it. The gemstone wasn't a perfect cut, more like a small misshapen chunk of rock holding onto the gold by sheer force of will. It was blood red, with greenish veins.

  
"What happened?" Ruby asked as she tried and failed to remember.

  
"You almost died. I managed to keep your soul in your body with that ring, so don't take it off."

  
Before Ruby could absorb all the information Christina had given her, or even ask any questions, Christina had walked out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

* * *

Ruby stayed in the bedroom for an eternity as she tried to think about what Christina had said. She'd almost died, which they'd both expected. It was supposed to be the outcome of her staying here. Why else would she have stayed here? But just as she was dying, Christina back-peddled and saved her life?

  
Ruby stared at the ring. She had half a mind to take it off, just to see what would happen. Would her soul snap out of her body suddenly, like an elastic band, or would the gradual, slow detachment start again? She touched it. The band was warm, probably from having been worn for a while already. Ruby wondered where Christina had found it. She wrapped her hand around the ring, tentatively pulled. The ring would come off if she wanted to. Ruby found it wiser not to.

  
Ruby left the bedroom soon after. She had so many questions for Christina. If the blonde had gone back on their deal, had she recalled Leti's soul too? And how dare she go back on their deal like that, without telling her about it? What was she even supposed to do now?

  
Ruby wandered the halls like a tidal wave, looking into every nook and behind every door for Christina. The blonde had some explanations to give. The garden was empty. Ruby went from terrace to terrace, looking for any sign of the so-called Queen of the Underworld. On the top-most terrace, the one where Ruby had been playing guitar not too long ago, something caught Ruby's attention. Under the bench, between a crack in the stone, there were a few blades of grass growing out. Ruby was surprised by the sight. Christina had told her that nothing lived here. Ruby touched the blades with a finger, and they felt perfectly healthy and didn't fall to dust. Still, no sight of Christina.

  
Ruby returned inside, thinking the blonde might just be hiding in the library. If she really wanted to avoid Ruby, like she seemed to want to, then she wouldn't be so easy to find. However, upon arriving by the library door, Ruby saw another door near it, blown open, with dark stairs leading down. She could vaguely remember Christina leading her down, though that might have been a dream too. Still, Ruby fearlessly adventured downward.

  
As she had imagined, Christina was in the room at the bottom of the stairs. Some sort of laboratory, filled with a mountain of papers the likes of which Ruby had never seen before. Christina was hunched above a few notes, her long hair falling like curtains in front of her face. She looked up when Ruby walked in, brushing them aside. The light in the room was low, making Christina's mesmerizing eye seem darker than ever before, like deep ocean pools rather than cloudless skies.

  
"Do you need anything?" she asked, before focusing back on her work.

  
"I don't know," Ruby replied.

  
She felt a wave of anger fill her chest and tried to temper it as much as she could, or else she knew she wouldn't get any answer from the blonde.

  
"Do we have a problem?" Ruby asked.

  
Christina looked up from her work again. The gaze seized Ruby up and down silently.

  
"What kind of problems would we have?"

  
"You tell me. We had a deal. My life for Leti's. Now you go back on your promise..."

  
"I never went back on my promise," Christina snapped back.

  
"Oh really? Then why am I still alive?"

  
Christina pursed her lips and refused to answer. Ruby was quick to ask:

  
"What about Leti?"

  
"I didn't touch a hair on your sister's head. She's still alive, just like you wanted."

  
"But what about me?" Ruby asked, taking a step closer. "I'm still alive too."

  
"I thought you would just thank me and move on," Christina said nonchalantly.

  
The blonde straightened, picking up the papers in front of her. She threw them on a pile behind her. However, when she turned back, Ruby had stepped much closer. Christina refused to take a step back. She stood her grounds, her eyes never leaving Ruby's. Ruby's heart beat just a bit faster in her chest.

  
"Move on? To do what? Are you going to let me leave now?"

  
Still, Christina wouldn't answer.

  
"Fine, then," Ruby decided. "I'm leaving."

  
Christina was visibly grinding her teeth.

  
"You're welcome," she said, prompting Ruby to turn around and face her again.

  
"For what? You wasting my time? I've been in so much stress thinking I was going to die, and at the last moment, you decided that, what, you were done playing with me? Ruby's not a fun toy anymore, is that it?"

  
"Of course not!" Christina shouted back.

  
"What is it, then?"

  
"I... I didn't think, alright! You deserve so much more than this, than dying like that."

  
"You think all those people out there deserved to die? That sea of souls you like to parade through, you think any of them deserved to die like they did? We all die, it happens."

  
"I don't!" Christina shouted back. "And it is a curse. Everyone gets to move on, but not me. And I don't know why, and I don't understand it. I thought I had made my peace with it, but then you came. And I suppose I haven't..."

  
Christina's voice caught in her throat, though Ruby couldn't tell if it was from anger or sadness.

  
"I used to be so meticulous," Christina continued. "I would plan for months, everything always had to be perfect. But this place, time... it changed everything. So yes, I panicked because I saw your soul leaving your body and I didn't know what else to do. And I didn't think about the consequences. You can leave now. It's my fault. You can go. I won't hold you back. I won't recall your sister either."

  
Ruby was stunned. She'd expected Christina's mask to drop, for the blonde to reveal that this was all just a game. This wasn't the mask she thought she would see fall apart. She took a step closer.

  
"I get it, alright," Ruby said more calmly. "You wanted company. And I'm somewhat grateful that you thought my life was worth saving like that. But I can't just stay here forever."

  
"I know," Christina said quietly. "Just go."

  
Ruby was about to take the ring off of her finger but Christina shook her head.

  
"Keep it. You can brag about how you stole it from the Queen of the Underworld."

  
"I didn't steal it. You gave it to me."

  
"It doesn't make as good a story now, does it?"

  
A small smile blossomed on Ruby's lips. She took a few steps toward the staircase, then turned around and said:

  
"Goodbye, Christina."

  
"I don't want to see you for another fifty years, at least," Christina said with fake bravado.

  
"I'll do my best."

* * *

Ruby left with her guitar. Christina felt nothing. Or at least, she willed for herself to feel nothing. She numbed herself to the pain. But inevitably, one of Ruby's songs would get stuck in her head, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't blunt the sharp pain in her heart. The voice in her mind called her a fool for letting Ruby go. No matter how much she tried to reason with the voice that there was no other alternative, she was somehow always wrong.

  
Ruby walked back up the tunnel, and in no time at all, she was back in the land of the living. She didn't remember the trip down being so short. To her left was Chicago, lit up like a beacon in the middle of the night, calling her back to it. Ruby followed the dirt path around the lake until she reached the edge of the city. She was so deep in thoughts, her feet guided her on their own through the South Side. Soon enough, she was standing in front of the old Winthrop house, and rasping at the door.

  
She had no idea how she looked. She certainly felt normal, if a bit tired from walking. She didn't know what she'd expected. Maybe for time to catch up to her, like a bloodhound catching a deer after hours of chasing it. Maybe she had died after all. Maybe she was nothing more than a soul.

  
The lights turned on in the windows. The door was unbolted carefully. A dark eye peaked from the crack in the door. Then, it was hurriedly thrown open. Atticus was standing on the other side, Leti's trusted baseball bat in one hand and an air of absolute bewilderment on his face.

  
"Ruby? We thought you were dead..."

  
"Well, I'm not. Can I come in, please? Unless you've already rented my bed to someone else."

  
In no time at all Leti was alerted to her sister's arrival, and rushing down the stairs. So maybe her stomping was waking up everyone in the house, but she couldn't care less. She threw herself in Ruby's arms while her older sister was trying to fix herself some dinner.

  
"I thought you were dead!" Leti said, not wanting to let go of Ruby.

  
Ruby sighed but hugged her sister back.

  
"It's complicated. How are you?"

  
"How am I! Ruby, you... you went to get me in Hell, you traded your soul for me, and then you... What in God's name happened!"

  
When Atticus returned, it was with a frazzled little bundle in his arms. George was hungry, apparently, or perhaps his mother's nervous energy had woken him up. Either way, Leti had to wait for her answers. They sat in the living room, Ruby eating the best sandwich she'd ever eaten in her entire life – she wouldn't admit it, but she'd missed food. Leti sat in a big armchair, cradling George, while Atticus went to reassure their renters that everything was fine.

  
"How long was I gone?" Ruby asked once she got a better look at her nephew.

  
He wasn't a little wrinkled baby anymore. He looked like a proper baby now, with a full head of short frizzly hair. He was looking at his aunt with deep dark eyes, anxious, like a cat meeting new people but keeping an eye out for danger.

  
"It's been almost six months," Leti replied. "I was certain... From what I could remember, I was sure you were dead."

  
Ruby fell silent, surprised. Six months. It had barely felt like a few days down there.

  
"I was almost dead," Ruby tried to explain. "But she... The Queen of the Underworld, her name's Christina, she decided to save me in the end. So she let me go."

  
"That's strange," Letitia said as she held George over her shoulder, rubbing his back.

  
"I know. I just can't wrap my head around it. I mean we had a deal, but she promised she wouldn't call you back if I left, so I did. There was nothing for me down there."

  
Leti smiled at her sister.

  
"I'm glad you did. Just, please, promise me that whatever happens, you won't go back there to trade your soul again. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's bad enough you made a deal with the Devil once..."

  
"She's not the Devil," Ruby said quickly, feeling suddenly defensive.

  
Leti raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  
"Really, she's not. She's more like a gatekeeper. She doesn't even decide who goes to Heaven or Hell. She just kind of watches things run themselves."

  
"Well, whatever she is, I'm at least grateful that she let you go in the end."

  
Ruby was grateful too, but she was also still very puzzled. Still, she wasn't given much time to think about it, as Atticus returned.

  
"I told everyone not to bother you with questions," he said. "Don't want them to know you were in Hell for six months..."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes but thanked him still.

  
"Your old room is still yours if you want it," Leti said. "I didn't have the heart to go through it."

  
"It's alright. I guess I'll go to sleep."

  
Ruby stood up from the couch and picked up her guitar. As she walked past the armchair Leti took her hand in hers, prompting Ruby to stop and look down at her younger sister.

  
"I'm glad you're back."

  
Ruby smiled.

  
"Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you're not too disappointed that I had to separate them. It wasn't planed in my original idea but while I was writing their argument I realized it wouldn't work if I followed what I had originaly planned. So I changed things up a bit and decided to lean a bit more on the Hades/Persephone aspect of the story. I promise you it'll be worth it in the end.  
> Yesterday's one-shot was a huge success so now I'm working on a sequel. I'm taking our girls on a French holiday, it's gonna be loads of fun! I can't get enough of these two, I want to write as many AUs as I can with them!  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter!


	6. Spring Bringer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby tries to settle back into her normal life, but something is missing

Ruby didn't sleep well that night. Or any of the following nights. Her mind was racing, and when it wasn't, and she finally collapsed of pure exhaustion, she woke up before the sun and began thinking again. Somehow she couldn't detach her mind from Christina. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the blonde's piercing blue eyes staring back at her. Five or six times a day her thoughts would extend to that one lonely soul who didn't get to move on.

  
Every evening she took off the ring, thinking it would be the last time she would wear it. She had no other reasons to wear it anyway. Yet every morning she slid it on again. In the beginning, she found excuses. She didn't have that many jewels so she might as well use it. It matched her outfit. Leti asked her about the ring once, and Ruby said with an amused smile that she'd stolen it from the Queen of the Underworld, impressing her younger sister. So she continued to wear it, despite not needing to.

  
Everyone was very glad to see her back, even if not many people truly knew where she'd gone. She made up an excuse about looking for work in Canada, where it had been just as difficult as here. So, she'd come back, because there was no point in looking for a better life north if the north wouldn't give her a better life, and she would be away from her family.

  
Atticus and Leti organized a party to celebrate her return, and for just a moment Ruby felt at home, her time in the land of the dead forgotten. Hippolyta knew of her trip and had a thousand questions, but she waited until they were alone to ask. Dee didn't know and kept asking about Canada, which made things highly difficult for Ruby. Montrose knew, and he kept giving her the evil eye like she was a demon tricking everyone into thinking she was Ruby. At one point during the party, Ruby was called on stage to play. She tried to protest but Leti pulled her on stage herself, and she was handed a guitar.

  
"Fine! I see all of you missed my beautiful voice so much..."

  
The crowd laughed as Ruby smiled, tuning the guitar.

  
"So, what do you want to hear?"

  
A few names of songs were shouted around the house, until eventually, Ruby settled on Nat King Cole's 'Orange Colored Sky'. The band behind her began to play. Ruby struck the strings lightly, letting the pianist play the opening of the song before the calm singing portion arrived. Sure enough, Leti joined her quickly after, singing the chorus with her. Soon afterward, Dee jumped on the stage with them to sing the song too. By the end of the song, almost the entire living room had joined in. The song ended, and the whole house erupted in cheers.

  
As Ruby handed the guitar back, she thought she caught a flash of something through the window. She looked up, but there was nothing but daylight and the street beyond the house. She sighed and put on a smile again quickly, lest people start to notice that she was being haunted by an invisible blonde.

  
Still, this wasn't enough to quell some gossips, as usual. Leti told her all about it once the party was over, and they were cleaning the kitchen.

  
"I got a hundred people asking me about that ring you're wearing."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes, throwing the rest of the half-eaten food in the trash before placing the plates on the counter beside the sink, where Leti was doing the dishes.

  
"What's so wrong that I bought a new ring?"

  
"I mean, it looks like a golden ring with a ruby on it, what are people supposed to think? That you had a hard time finding work but enough to buy that?"

  
Ruby sighed with annoyance.

  
"People should really just mind their damn business."

  
"Like that's ever going to happen. I give it a day before all of the South Side thinks you tried to elope with some white guy before he dumped you six months later."

  
Ruby couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. It only people knew that it wasn't a white guy which had kept her away, but a white girl instead. For the fourth time that day, her heart clenched at the thought of Christina, and her amused smile fell.

  
"Let them talk for all I care. If they think I'm dumb enough to get tricked by a white guy into marrying him, then they're only as stupid as the rumor they spread."

  
Leti shrugged.

  
"If you say so."

* * *

Life went back to normal. Although that wasn't quite true. It went back to normal as close as it could. Months after she'd returned Ruby still couldn't get Christina out of her mind. She thought she saw her everywhere, observing her. She knew that it was impossible, and even if it wasn't, there was nothing scary in the thought of Christina having followed her out. It was an odd feeling which made her heart warm in her chest, one Ruby couldn't quite explain.

  
She searched for work and once again good work was impossible to find despite her over-qualification. That, among many things, really was what she hadn't missed. Doors slamming into her face. She convinced Sammy to give her her old Thursday spot back. It wasn't much money, but for a while, the patrons were so glad to hear her again that she made quite a bit with tips.

  
She took care of Little George too, watching over him whenever Leti asked her to. He was a wonderful little baby, Ruby thought. He was playful and rarely fussy with her. He got used to seeing her around pretty swiftly. This was it, Ruby thought. This was the reason why she knew that those six months in the Underworld hadn't been in vain. When she heard Leti baby-talking to her son and George laughing at his mother's antics, she did not doubt that she'd made the right choice.

  
It was around Christmas that Ruby began to feel like something in her life was off. Like something was missing. She'd settled back into her life as if she'd never left it, but something was different. They were getting ready for George's first Christmas, and there was much to do, which Ruby was glad for. It gave her less time to think about Christina. Because that was almost entirely the only thing she thought about. The blonde had been taking over her mind. Christmas came and went. George was surrounded by his family. Ruby was surrounded by her family. But it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like any of their previous Christmas, and it had nothing to do with Montrose still glaring at her any chance he got.

  
When Ruby went to bed on that night of Christmas, she was certain she would fall asleep instantly. From the moment she had woken up and gotten ready for church to the moment her head had touched the pillow, she hadn't had a moment to herself. Still, as she closed her burning eyes, sleep didn't want to come.

  
Just as she believed she was falling asleep, she thought she felt someone climbing into bed with her. Adrenaline shot through her body as she looked to her side, and found hypnotic blue eyes staring back at her. Moonlight beamed into the room, and Christina's eyes seemed to glow from it.

  
"Christina?" Ruby asked, shocked.

  
Christina shushed her gently and leaned closer until their lips met. Christina tasted just as she looked, cold, like snow or mint, or winter air. Soon enough Ruby was kissing her back. Christina shifted until she was over Ruby, her lips never leaving hers. It made no sense. Christina wasn't supposed to be there, she shouldn't be able to be here, kissing her. Christina's hands felt like they were everywhere over her body all at once, making Ruby shiver.

  
"I've been waiting for this for so long..." Christina whispered in her ear, before she gently bit the junction of Ruby's jaw and neck, making Ruby moan.

  
Ruby was speechless. She was finally able to pinpoint where Christina's hands. One was pushing Ruby's nightgown up her thigh. The other was...

  
There was a loud bang out of her room, like a door slamming shut. Ruby jumped awake, her dream all but dispelled. She groaned as she fell back against her pillow. That certainly was quite the dream she'd just had. Her mind certainly hoped it wouldn't happen again, and she could continue to keep the blonde out of her mind as she slept. Her heart and other parts of her hoped this was only the beginning.

  
"Goddamn it..."

  
Early sunlight was streaming through the curtains. Ruby got out of bed and hoped to every saint that the shower was free. She didn't exactly want to take a long cold shower so early in the morning, but it wasn't like she had any other choice.

* * *

The dreams didn't stop. They got more intense, more comfortable, and longer. Come early March if anyone had dared to ask Ruby what she would do, if she had blonde in her bed, she could have given great, great details as to what she would do. And nothing could get them out of her mind. Flirting with men didn't help. Flirting with women was dangerous and didn't help either. Ruby came to imagine that for the rest of her life, she would desire the same one, impossible to have blonde.

  
The party for George's first birthday was winding down. There was the entire ground floor to clean up, and Atticus was in the garden with his son, playing with George's new soccer ball. The toddler could walk somewhat properly now, but kicking was difficult, so instead, he picked up the ball – almost as big as him – and carried it to his father, before clapping his tiny hands, congratulating himself for a job well done. Ruby thought it was kind of like playing fetch with a dog, except that this dog sometimes fell on his butt and laughed it off.

  
Ruby watched her nephew play outside. She was so distracted Leti had to come over and shake her out of it by taking the plates out of her hands.

  
"Don't worry," Leti said. "Georgie'll still be plenty excited when it's your turn to keep an eye on him."

  
Ruby sighed through her nose, softly.

  
"No, it's... something else."

  
She picked up a few discarded glasses and brought them to the kitchen, where Leti was piling plates in the sink.

  
"What is it, then? You know you can tell me."

  
Ruby played with the ring on her finger. She'd taken to doing it, unconsciously at first, and she hadn't been able to kick that new habit just yet.

  
"I... I know it's going to sound strange but... I want to go back..."

  
"Back to where?" Leti asked with a frown.

  
"To the Underworld."

  
Leti stilled, then looked at Ruby as if she were crazy.

  
"You don't owe her anything."

  
"It's not about that, it's... You wouldn't understand."

  
Ruby sighed.

  
"I shouldn't have talked about it," she muttered.

  
She was about to walk away when Leti turned around to face her fully and crossed her arms.

  
"No, come on, tell me. Make me understand then. Because ever since you came back, it's like... I don't know, like there's a piece of you missing, still down there. And I'm starting to think that maybe she took a piece of you, and she's... I don't know, manipulating you with it or something."

  
Ruby could only agree with Leti, but it wasn't manipulation. If Christina had a piece of her, then she equally had kept a piece of Christina with her. Her fingers wrapped around the ring once more, drawing Leti's gaze to it.

  
"Maybe it's the ring."

  
"No, it's not the ring, it's... It's complicated. And I think I won't be able to make sense of it until I go back."

  
Ruby could see that Leti didn't like the idea at all. Her younger sister pursed her lips thoughtfully.

  
"And if she doesn't let you leave again? You can't play and double-cross Gods like they're your poker buddies. I thought Daddy had taught you that much."

  
"She will. She let me leave before, she'll let me leave again. It's just that I'll be away some time, again."

  
Leti sighed.

  
"Do what you think is right. But I'm warning you. If you're not back soon, I'll go down there myself and get you out."

  
Ruby smiled gratefully at her sister. She knew there was no reason for Leti to go after her, but she appreciated the gesture all the same.

* * *

Christina was in the library, picking yet another book she wouldn't be able to finish when she heard growling. It came from the throne room. Her heart lifted out of her chest, but she crushed her hopes voluntarily. She thought maybe releasing Ruby wasn't such a good idea, because if the other woman had told everyone about how to get down to her kingdom and get past her Shoggoth, she was certain she would be in big trouble.

  
She left without taking another book and made her way to the throne room, taking grand confident strides. When she reached the room, however, her heart jumped out of her chest. Ruby was standing right at the bottom of the steps, just where she'd been when they'd first met. She was sending the Shoggoth back on its way, then she turned completely to look at the blonde. Christina couldn't quite believe it.

  
"I thought I told you not to come back for fifty years."

  
It sounded more stunned and less detached than Christina would have wished.

  
"I know what you said," Ruby replied.

  
Christina made her way down the stairs, and Ruby waited until the blonde was standing on the last step to add:

  
"But I kept thinking that you must have been pretty lonely down there. I thought I'd pay you a visit, see how you were doing."

  
Christina frowned, visibly confused.

  
"You shouldn't have bothered," the blonde said. "With or without you, I'm always doing the same."

  
Ruby smiled, making Christina's heart jolt.

  
"See you keep saying that, but you probably believe it as much as I do. Admit it, you loved having me around."

  
"Having you around was... different," Christina said, her eyes uncontrollably glancing at Ruby's lips before she forced herself to look away.

  
The quick motion of Christina's eyes wasn't lost on Ruby.

  
"Well then, if that's the case, I suppose I'll just go back up."

  
Ruby didn't move though. Instead, she waited for Christina to say or do something. Christina sighed through her nostrils.

  
"Are you waiting for me to admit that having you here was good?" the blonde asked.

  
"Something like that."

  
"Well, it wasn't. It was terrible for me. Now I have all those love songs stuck in my head and I can't make sense of any of them. I've started writing some down, but they're like jigsaws and I'm missing too many pieces to even understand them. I haven't been able to finish a single book since you left and you must have been gone for barely a week or something."

  
As soon as Christina's voice quieted, and she looked back at Ruby, she found the other woman smiling with pride.

  
"Good enough."

  
Before Christina could exactly understand what Ruby meant, she was pulled into a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! See, I told you it would be worth it!  
> Shout out to all the Fallout fans out there who, like me, jumped out of their seats with excitement when Ruby and Leti started singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". It was not a coincidence that I picked "Orange Colored Sky" for this chapter ;)  
> That one-shot I've been working on is slowly growing out of control so I'm thinking about separating it into chapters. I hope I can finish it today. I've already thought about a short fun High school AU that I could work on too. Then, I don't know, the sky's the limit I guess.  
> Anyway, I hope you have a nice weekend. I hope this will be a nice weekend full of good news. And in any case, I'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter!


	7. Goodbye Loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Christina enjoy their time in the Underworld together

There was no time in Christina's bed. Just the two of them. An eternity hidden under satin sheets. Christina was laying on her side, her head propped up on her hand, staring at Ruby. That much Ruby had pictured before, but she'd never pictured the softness in her gaze as if looks alone could harm, so Christina had to refrain herself from looking too intensely.

  
"What are you staring at?" Ruby asked playfully.

  
"I'm not sure," Christina replied. "Could be the greatest thing to have ever happened to me in centuries down here, or it could be another heartache waiting to happen."

  
Ruby sighed and caressed Christina's cheek. Christina placed a kiss on Ruby's palm.

  
"Don't think about it."

  
"You can't stay here forever."

  
"I can stay for as long as I want to, and you can be damn well sure that I want to."

  
A sad smile blossomed on Christina's lips. She took Ruby's hand in hers and began kissing every knuckle reverently, like a worshiper kissing the feet of a divinity's statue.

  
"Actually we may not have all the time in the world," Ruby said as Christina kissed the inside of her wrist.

  
Christina stopped and looked at Ruby with slight confusion.

  
"Leti warned that if I stayed too long down here, she'd come to get me."

  
Christina smirked and moved closer to Ruby, with a predatory glim in her eye. She climbed on top of Ruby, in that same fashion Ruby had once dreamed about.

  
"What do you think your sister will say if she comes here to rescue you from my grasp, and she finds us likes this?"

  
Christina didn't give Ruby time to answer, kissing her fiercely instead. When they broke apart, Ruby could barely remember what Christina's question had been. But she could imagine Leti's complete shock upon finding her older sister in the arms of a goddess. She would probably be mortified for a few days – months, years – before she would use it to tease her about it.

  
Nimbly, Ruby flipped them over. She began peppering Christina's throat with kisses. Christina's breath hitched in her throat.

  
"It'll be a lot easier to explain it to her if she catches us, at least," Ruby whispered against Christina's skin.

  
Christina smiled. She could only imagine what sort of witty comment she would say if Ruby's sister bothered to come to fetch her. Then, Ruby kissed her collarbone, moving lower, and all thoughts left her mind.

* * *

Ruby left Christina in bed to get a bath running. Christina had forgotten what exhaustion felt like. It was strange to say that she had missed it. She stayed flat on her back, staring at the stone ceiling above her, listening to the sound of the bathtub filling up with water for what felt like an eternity. It probably was.

  
When she finally stood up, putting on a light dress with metal straps, she walked to the bathroom. Ruby was already soaking in the water. She was humming a song Christina hadn't heard before. When Christina walked in, Ruby smiled up at her.

  
"Join me?" she asked.

  
"In a minute."

  
Christina found a sponge laying on the side of the bathtub. She picked it up, soaked it in water, and moved behind Ruby to gently rub the sponge on her back. Ruby hummed pleasantly.

  
"I could get used to that," she said.

  
Christina smiled behind her.

  
"I hope you do. I hope to convince you to stay for as long as you can."

  
"You don't have to convince me of that."

  
Behind her, Ruby could feel Christina grow thoughtful. She glanced over her shoulder to find that faraway look the blonde sometimes had.

  
"What's on your mind?" she asked.

  
The sponge stilled over her shoulder, then began stroking slowly once again.

  
"Nothing, just... wishing we didn't have to stay down here. Wishing I could come back with you."

  
Ruby got a hold of Christina's wet hand and kissed the back of her hand.

  
"Me too. But if it can't be done..."

  
"It can't," Christina said with certainty. "I tried everything I could think of."

  
Ruby was silent for a moment, simply enjoying the feeling of the soft sponge on her back. Questions she'd never asked bubbled up to the surface. Questions she finally dared to ask:

  
"How did you even end up here in the first place?"

  
Christina didn't answer at first.

  
"Was it when you died?" Ruby continued. "You mentioned a few times that you died, so I just assumed you got stuck here then."

  
"I did," Christina said with a cold, even voice. A way to protect herself, Ruby understood.

  
The blonde was thoughtful, then she answered Ruby's questions.

  
"When I died I just... appeared here. Like all the other souls. But I wasn't just a soul, I was me. As if I were still alive. I tried leaving back up to the surface and I couldn't. I went to the castle. It was exactly like it is now, but completely empty. The throne was already there, occupied by some very old skeleton. It just crumbled to dust when I touched it. And then, when I sat on the throne, I just... became this Queen of the Underworld. I'm not even certain of what I am. Maybe I'm a god, and maybe I'm not. No one ever bothered to tell me. I just settled in. There was nowhere else to go anyway. I tried getting out, but you already know how that went."

  
"So you've been calling yourself Queen of the Underworld even though you might just be squatting the castle," Ruby said, though she couldn't quite get the amusement out of her voice.

  
She expected Christina to get angry with her, but instead, she heard her hum with similar amusement behind her.

  
"I suppose I am. No one has come to kick me out yet, so I imagine no one really cares."

  
Christina put the sponge aside. Ruby heard the sound of a dress hitting the ground, and soon enough Christina was seating into the tub, facing Ruby.

  
"Who were you before?" Ruby asked.

  
"Do you really want to know?" Christina replied.

  
"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know."

  
Christina sighed.

  
"I was the daughter of a powerful man. I came from a family of magic practitioners."

  
"You were a witch then."

  
"I don't like that word."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes with amusement.

  
"Of course you don't. What else did you do with your life?"

  
"I wanted to become immortal. I got my father killed so he wouldn't stand in my way. I experimented until I found the way to become immortal. But I suppose I caught the attention of the wrong people. Before I could do the ritual, the entire town turned on me. They trialed me as a witch and then, they drowned me," Christina concluded, her fingers playing with the bathwater.

  
Ruby fell silent. She wasn't certain to which extend her death still affected Christina. It seemed as though she didn't care.

  
"I guess you had your wish granted in the end," Ruby said in a low voice.

  
"This isn't the immortality I wanted," Christina said. "There is nothing to experience here, nothing to do that I haven't done a thousand times."

  
Ruby smiled sympathetically.

  
"Come here," she said softly.

  
Christina obliged, shifting closer to Ruby. Ruby kissed her, then helped Christina shift in her arms until she was holding the blonde flushed against her.

  
"Is this a first?" Ruby asked, placing small kisses on Christina's shoulder.

  
"I get your point," Christina replied.

  
"There's no point to get. Just enjoy the time we have."

  
This Christina could get behind.

* * *

Christina watched with rapture as Ruby sat on the bed beside her, playing a song for her. Beyond missing Ruby, she'd missed her voice and her liveliness as she played. It was magical to watch. Christina tried to focus on the words, to memorize them, but soon enough, she was taken in by the simple feelings Ruby's voice conveyed. She felt them enter her heart and nestle there. She was swept away by every note.

  
When Ruby stopped playing, she looked over at Christina. The mesmerizing look on the blonde's face made her smile. She put the guitar aside and laid down beside Christina, taking her hand in hers.

  
"Another song which is going to be stuck in my head," Christina complained with a sigh.

  
Ruby smiled and kissed her cheek.

  
"You're welcome."

  
Christina shifted closer until she could cling to Ruby's side, her head on her collarbone.

  
"You're going to have to leave soon," she said coldly.

  
"Are you kicking me out?" Ruby asked jokingly.

  
"No, never. But you said last time it felt like you'd been here just a few days when it had been six months. Doesn't it feel like it's been a few days already?"

  
"It does. And it doesn't."

  
Christina took Ruby's hand in hers and kissed the ring on her finger. She'd never been more glad she'd saved Ruby's soul.

  
"I'll come back," Ruby promised. "In a few months. You won't even feel like I've gone."

  
"What about your life? Doesn't it bother you to sacrifice months at a time just for a bit of time with me?"

  
Ruby had to hold in a chuckle.

  
"People already think I have a secret white husband somewhere. And once I tell Leti the truth, she'll understand. God knows she had to put up with quite some things to be with Tic."

  
Still, Christina didn't seem as confident as Ruby had hoped she would be.

  
"One day, you'll grow tired of me, or of having to come down here to see me."

  
"Why do you always have to think of the worst?"

  
"Because in my experience it's better to be prepared for the worst. I was killed because I forgot to plan for the worst. I am at your complete mercy, and if you decide not to come anymore, there is nothing I can do about it."

  
"Not even call my soul down here?"

  
Christina looked up at Ruby.

  
"I don't kill, remember?"

  
Ruby leaned to kiss her. Once they separated, she said:

  
"If I grow tired of you, I'll at least give you the courtesy of letting you know. It's the least I can do."

  
"I hope you never will," Christina said before diving in for another kiss.

* * *

Some time had passed. Ruby was ready to go back home. Christina escorted her to the edge of the Underworld. The Shoggoth looked with excitement at its master, but when Christina looked at it, it sat back down and curled its massive head on its front paws, and went back to sleep.

  
"I'll see you soon," Ruby promised.

  
"It still won't be soon enough."

  
They were holding onto each other's hands and reluctant to let go.

  
"Maybe I can bring you something next time," Ruby suggested. "Something to keep you busy when I'm not here."

  
Christina, torn between 'I don't want any other gifts but you' and 'I would love that', kept quiet. Instead, she leaned in and kissed Ruby. Ruby returned the kiss, threading her free hand through Christina's long loose hair. Christina held onto Ruby's waist, her hand slowly creeping under the hem of Ruby's shirt. Ruby had to stop her hand from climbing higher. She tore away from Christina with a heavy heart.

  
"I'll be back before you know it."

  
"It's a lie. I'll feel every second without you."

  
Christina gave one last kiss to Ruby, then Ruby began pulling away toward the exit. She held onto Christina's hand until she couldn't anymore, and made her way to the tunnel. When Ruby turned around, she found Christina standing by the edge of her kingdom, staring back at her. Ruby wondered – feared, even – whether Christina would wait right there, rooted on the spot until Ruby returned. Ruby waved at the blonde, who waved back, then got on her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just one last chapter! Don't let your guard down or the feels are going to get you.  
> I worked tirelessly yesterday to finish the French Holiday one-shot, and it was 20 pages long... So I'm cutting it in half. The first part will be released in an hour tops, I just need to spell check it. The story is called "Mon Amour, crois-tu qu'on s'aime?" It's French, cause, you know, they're in France. Don't get fooled, just cause the title is in French doesn't mean the story isn't in English. I'm really proud of it, by the way, so I hope those who decide to check it out will love it.  
> I'm working on the short fun high school AU as we speak. I know a lot of you wanted some angst but I want this story to be short, and it's probably going to be longer than I wished by the looks of things. It's about Leti finding out that Ruby's been lying to her and after school, she catches a ride in a strangely expensive silver car and disappears for a few hours. So Leti is on the case. You can imagine what kid of shenanigans she'll get up to.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you tomorrow for the ending!


	8. She Comes Bearing Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christina and Ruby fall into a routine of some time together, and a few months apart

It became their way. Ruby spent a few months in the land of the living, with her family, then made her way back down to Christina. Her time with Christina always went too fast, but every time, she managed to walk back out and returned to Chicago.

  
Telling Letitia had been a challenge. She'd sat her down and tried to explain as clearly as she could, but there wasn't much to explain. And 'I'm in a relationship with the self-proclaimed Queen of the Underworld' had clearly not been what Leti was expecting her sister to tell her.

  
"I'm sorry, what?" Leti said, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to get over her surprise.

  
"I said I'm..."

  
Her sister cut her off:

  
"I heard you. What do you mean 'a relationship'?"

  
"Do you really want the details?"

  
"Never mind."

  
Leti stared at Ruby until it became uncomfortable.

  
"It's still me, I don't know what you're staring for."

  
"Did she enchant you or something?"

  
"She didn't enchant me, Leti. We just kind of happened."

  
Leti rolled her eyes.

  
"Just happen, really? Since when do you... you know, like women?"

  
Ruby shrugged.

  
"I don't know. Like I said, it just kind of happened."

  
"This seems... dangerous."

  
"Why would it be?" Ruby asked. "It's like I told you, I'll just spend a few months here and a few months with her, nothing dangerous in that."

  
Ruby could see that Leti still had a hundred things to say, so she decided to cut their conversation short:

  
"Don't worry about me, alright? I know what I'm doing. I just wanted to warn you. You're my sister, you deserve that much."

  
Ruby stood up. She had a job interview in a few hours and she needed to get ready.

  
"People are going to talk even more, now," Leti said.

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"Let them talk till their mouths fall off for all I care."

* * *

The first time Ruby returned down into the land of the dead, she was glad not to find Christina waiting by the entrance. The Shoggoth didn't even bother to come and check who she was anymore. She made her way to the castle. She found Christina in the library. The blonde was flipping through the pages of her book, deep in thoughts.

  
"You should put it back, I've got something more interesting for you."

  
Christina's entire body language changed. She almost dropped the book on the ground, and barely had a clear enough mind to put it back on the shelf before she crossed the room with a few grand strides. Ruby was about to make a joke when she was swept into a kiss.

  
The library floor and couch were christened. Though useless, the fireplace was lit, and Ruby and Christina curled up on the couch together, looking at the heat-less flames dancing on the burning logs. Then, Ruby told Christina about everything going on in her life. George's developing passion for fishes and all things aquatic since they'd taken him to the lake for an afternoon. Atticus coming back from a guide trip with a puppy. Leti wasn't too excited about it at first, but seeing how George loved it, she'd come to love the pup too. And of course, Leti letting her know right before she left that she was pregnant again.

  
Christina soaked up all the information like a sponge. It was absolutely useless to her, but she didn't care. All of these people mattered to Ruby, and this was the closest taste of life she could get, aside from kissing Ruby.

  
Watching Ruby leave was heartbreaking every time. For half an eternity, Christina was so deep in her feelings that she couldn't quite function. She wandered her castle like a ghost. She even slept sometimes, even if it was accidental. She just wanted to lay in bed and imagine Ruby was still beside her. Then, the wound left in her heart healed, and she could function again. She stopped waiting for Ruby to return with the piece of heart she was missing – an increasingly bigger one, in Christina's opinion, no longer half but the whole thing – and simply appreciated that Ruby returned it.

  
Still, there were things they never talked about during Ruby's visit. Christina refrained from asking if Ruby had grown bored of her yet. The doubt was always there, only crushed temporarily by Ruby's kisses. It seemed the novelty of having a goddess as your lover never wore off. Or maybe there was something else that kept bringing Ruby back to her, but Christina would rather not think about feelings, because they would make things messier than they already were.

* * *

It was Ruby's fourteenth visit. George was a nerdy, glasses-wearing teenager like his father, with a passion for science. His younger sister Dorothy was as rambunctious as Diana had once been, and her talents with a guitar would soon equal Ruby's. Diana worked in the family business, drawing comics on the side when she had free time on the road or otherwise. And as usual, Christina was extremely surprised to see Ruby arrive. It wasn't that Christina didn't feel time pass when Ruby was away, it was that Ruby brought time back with her.

  
Ruby had barely changed since Christina had met her. She might style her hair differently, but the light in her eyes, her smile, her kisses, they never changed. It was usual for them to fall into bed very quickly after Ruby's return. Christina had mapped out Ruby's whole body like it was an instrument, and she knew how to make her sing. Likewise, Ruby knew by heart how to tease Christina until she begged, and beg she would, every time.

  
Depending on their whims, they would spend Ruby's entire visit in bed, or take a bath together. Rarely, they went to walk around the garden or walked around the Underworld hand in hand. Christina wasn't surprised when Ruby said she'd rather stay in bed and hold Christina. It was a common enough activity for them. Christina was not prepared when she heard Ruby sighed, felt the hold on her tighten just a bit as if she wanted to hold her even closer. She didn't expect for a second to hear Ruby say:

  
"Christina, I'm dying..."

  
It was like a shower of ice blocks. Christina sat up and looked at Ruby with confusion and fear.

  
"What?"

  
"I went to see the doctor last month and..."

  
Christina wouldn't let her finish.

  
"You can't... I'll..."

  
Christina tried to stand out of the bed but Ruby caught her wrist and pulled her back into bed.

  
"There's nothing you can do. Nothing anyone can do."

  
Ruby sat up and took Christina's hand in hers.

  
"I don't know exactly how long I have left. All I know is that I'm going to grow weaker and weaker, and eventually, I won't be able to come here anymore..."

  
Christina was shaken to her core. Her throat was tight with emotion but she managed to keep the tears at bay.

  
"Stay here," she said. "If you stay here, time won't affect you."

  
Ruby smiled sympathetically.

  
"I've thought of that. But no one can cheat death forever. I already cheated once, remember?"

  
Christina was like a stone statue, seating at the edge of the bed. Only Ruby managed to move her until they were cuddling again. Still, Christina was silent, cold, and stiff in her arms.

  
"Right now, this could be our last time together," Ruby admitted. "And I'd rather spend every second with you not thinking about it, but I want you to know. So that you wouldn't think that I'd grown tired of you."

  
Christina brushed an invisible tear on her cheek, then said:

  
"You won't die. As long as you were the ring your soul can't leave your body. And even if it doesn't work, I won't let it happen."

  
"You'll have to," Ruby said. "I promised you my soul a long time ago. I think it's finally time I deliver on that promise."

  
"I don't want it," Christina shouted.

  
She moved out of Ruby's embrace to sit in front of her. She was visibly frustrated, on the verge of tears. Ruby could only sympathize. She'd been equally dismayed when the news had been announced to her. Leti had been just as angry, even promising to go to the Underworld to get her soul back, as Ruby had done before. Ruby had made her promise not to instead. It had been difficult, but Leti eventually had.

  
"Baby, you already have it. My soul and my heart, both, they're yours," Ruby said. "I love you."

  
Christina was once again stunned. She stared at Ruby, trying to understand her words. Tears left her eyes without her even realizing it. Like rivers after some heavy rain, her eyes had simply overflowed. Christina only noticed she was crying when Ruby brushed the tears off her cheeks. Christina brought her in for a kiss, clinging to Ruby fiercely. When they pulled apart, Christina whispered against Ruby's lips:

  
"I love you too... I love you, please don't leave me..."

* * *

When Ruby left for the last time, an eternity later, she gave Christina one last kiss and the magic ring.

* * *

As usual, Christina struggled after Ruby's final departure. She slept, she wandered the castle, she pretended to read, and she went back to bed. Every time she returned to the bedroom, she somehow expected Ruby to be in bed, waiting for her. She never was. Once denial had left her heart, and guilt took over, Christina threw herself into work. She started all of her projects anew. If there was a way out of this cursed place, she would find it. She would never stop trying to find it until she could be reunited with Ruby.

  
It was an undetermined amount of time later that Christina felt like burning all of her research again. She left the basement and went into the gardens, hoping a short walk outside would help her frustration deflate. She had one of Ruby'rs song stuck in her head, a song about love that made her heart clench in her chest. As she tried to remember the words, she found that two songs had entangled over the rhythm of a third one. So Christina began humming, trying to remember at least one of the three songs in full.

  
She was making her way to the top-most platform when she felt something brushing her foot. She stopped with a frown and looked down. There was grass growing between the stone slabs. She couldn't quite believe it. She crouched, and like a child going to the park for the first time, she passed her hand over the few blades of grass. It was incredible that it had grown here in the first place, but Christina assumed it would die soon. She climbed up the stairs to the top of the garden and found a sea of green.

  
Not only had the grass grown between all the stones on the ground, but the trees were green and heavy with blossoms. Christina couldn't quite believe it, even as her fingers brushed the leaves hanging from the tree attached to the cliff. How she hadn't noticed before, she wasn't certain. But she was determined not to let them die again.

  
She started with the top and moved her way to the bottom. Every slab of stone on the ground was discarded. One by one she lifted them, mindful of the grass, and threw them over the cliff. Soon enough, there was only dirt covering the garden's ground, except for the staircases. Just as she'd imagined, grass bloomed, and soon enough, the ground was green and soft, comfortable to walk on barefooted.

  
The trees she barely had to care for before they, too, burgeoned back to life. In seemingly no time at all she had apples growing in her garden. The ivy on the wall, as if it sipped the life from the ground, turned green once again. Massive lily pads came to call the fountain their homes, just as the flow of water from the statue inexplicably increased. Christina didn't notice it at first, but the statue had changed. It wasn't crying silently anymore. Its eyes were open. The skull in her hand was where the water flowed from, splashing out of the eye sockets. Christina came to wonder if she'd imagined the crying nymph this entire time.

  
Flowers grew uncontrollably without much prompting from Christina. Where had they come from? Who knew. Certainly not Christina who was surprised to see even more of them growing every day. Rows of purple irises bloomed by the fountain, while under the trees, and in the grass smaller daisies and violets covered the bright green ground. Somehow one wall of the castle was overtaken by roses of all colors.

  
Christina didn't need to tend to them much, but she still took the time to water them, hoping it would help. She found a basket and began picking apples regularly. She ate some, used others for decoration. When she grew overrun with apples she began throwing them through the exit gate. Like good souls, the apples made their way to Heaven. Christina hoped the gift would be appreciated.

  
She was tending to her garden, watering a new bush of gardenias when she heard from behind her:

  
"If I had known you'd take up gardening after I left..."

  
Christina dropped the vase she used for watering and turned around. Ruby was standing at the edge of the garden, a bright smile on her lips. Christina was quick to close the distance between them and bring Ruby into a searing kiss. She was there, she truly was, she could wrap her arms around her and hug her.

  
"How..." Christina began, at a loss for words.

  
"I don't know. I just woke up here."

  
The realization hit Christina suddenly.

  
"You're dead."

  
"So are you," Ruby replied simply.

  
Christina needed to know for sure that Ruby was there. She kissed her again, threading her fingers through Ruby's short hair while her other hand settled on Ruby's waist. Ruby cupped her jaw and Christina knew she wasn't dreaming. When they parted, Christina breathed out:

  
"I missed you so much..."

  
"Me too... But now that I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

  
Ruby kissed Christina again, then looked at the beautiful garden around them.

  
"You really did a number on the garden. What happened to all the stone pavement?"

  
"I threw it away," Christina replied simply, still basking on the feeling of having her lover so close.

  
"Give me a tour?" Ruby asked.

  
"In a minute," Christina promised, before diving in for another kiss.

  
After all, they had eternity for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I warned you this last chapter would be a rollercoaster of emotions. Despite all the changes I had to do tomake this story work, Ruby was always meant to die and Christina was always meant to develop a green thumb before they could reunite.  
> I finished the high school AU this morning. It is much longer than I anticipated. I will be posting it tomorrow, after I'm done with the presentation I have to give on the first episode of Lovecraft Country (college, where half of the classes are the worst and the other half let's you make presentation on whatever the hell you want) I haven't really settled on a title yet, but if you're like me you've been refreshing the Ruby/Christina tag every morning since the show ended, so you'll definitely see it.  
> I've been thinking about making a multi-chapter adventure story next. It seems everyone dislikes episode 4 (myself included, really) but I'd love to make a sort of Uncharted Lost Legacy story with Ruby and Christina, I think it would be super fun. Let me know if that is something that you might be interested in. Ruby and Christina discovering ancient ruins and being super gay while doing it.  
> Anyway, thank you so much for your amazing support! I'm so so glad that so many of you loved my weird mix of AUs! Readers really are the prime motivator for a writer, so to see how much love you've given to this story is really a plus! I hope you have a nice week! Bye!


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